John b



UNITED S'rA'rEs PATENT @FFIGE.

JOHN B. SLAWSON, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

iMPROVEMENT IN FARE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,571, dated December3, 1878; application filed September 25, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. SLAWSON, of New York, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fare-Boxes; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawin gs, and toletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 represents a detached sectional viewfrom front to rear of myimproved moneycompartment of a-fare-box, showingthe money drawer or receptacle in place, as taken through the line 00 00of Fig. 2. Fig.2 represents aplan of the same, and Fig. 3 a plan of themoneydrawer detached from the box. Fig. 4 represents a rear-end view ofthe dip that arrests the fare for inspection.

As generally constructed, fare boxes are provided at front and rear withan opening covered by a glass plate or other transparent medium, throughwhich the passengers and driver of the car or vehicle may examine thefare to see that the amount is correct and in good-money or tickets, forwhich purpose the box is generally provided with a dipor temporaryarrest for the detention of the fare until examined, after which, bytilting the dip .or withdrawing it from the mouth of the opening whichleads to themoney-drawer below, the fare is precipitatedinto the latter,where it remains until removed by the party authorized so to do, unlessotherwise fraudulently removed-as, for example, by breaking the glassthrough which the inspection of the fare is made, depressing the dip, orotherwise withdrawing it from the mouth of the opening leading to themoney-drawer, and then inserting the hand and removing the accumulatedfare therefrom.

To prevent such fraudulent proceeding is the object of my invention, asalso to prevent the fraudulent withdrawal of the fare through the mouthof the fare-box from the money-drawer when once it has been depositedtherein, and which is frequently effected by many contrivancesfraudulently resorted to by the drivers and other persons, asopportunity offers.

My invention consists, first, in providing nel left open by the raisingof the rear end of the dip; and, secondly, in providing the moneydrawerproper with a slide, the lower end of which may be serrated or otherwiseprovided, and which I prefer, with a series of slidespikes, or with adouble series of slide-spikes and hooks, so as to prevent the passage ofthe hand on the depression of the dip through the opening thus formedinto the box below, the slide and spikes for this purpose being made torun in a contrary direction to the dip when depressed.

The hooks and spikes also serve as a means of protecting the fare fromthe fraudulent use of instruments as a means of withdrawing it from thedrawer.

To enable others skilled in the art to make, construct, and use myinvention, I will now proceed to describe it, omitting a particulardescription of such parts of a farebox as is unnecessary to the properunderstanding of my present improvement.

In the drawings, A represents a metal box or frame, and which I preferto make of castiron, closed at the two sides and at the rear and bottom,and open at front, and partially so at top, there beingjust spacesufficient left to receive the dip B when in position to arrest thefare, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Box A for this purpose isprovided at the rear, on top, with a lip, a, for the support of the rearedge of dip B.

On the upper edge of the two sides of the box are formed two flangedprojections, b b, flush on their outer sides with the sides of the box,and inclined downwardly on the inside. A vertical slot is formed in oneof these projections b, the bottom of which constitutes one of thebearings of the pivotal pins 0 of the dip, it being cut sufficientlydeep to allow the upper side of the dip to rest in the same plane withthe upper side of the inner edge of the flanges. The other pivotal pin 0has its bear ing in a hole formed in the other side of the box,immediately below its flange I), as shown in Fig. 1.

To the upper end of the front side of box A is secured a metal plate, 0,for which purpose two flanges, (I, one at either end, are formed on theplate, and so arranged as to project and just fit within the sides ofthe box A. Through the sides of the box and these flanges are passedscrews, which firmly bind the plate 0 to the box.

The width of the plate 0 is so contrived with respect to the bottom ofthe box as to just leave space sufficient between them for the receptionof the money-drawer D.

The flanges d are connected at the top by another flange, 0, which formsa support for the lower end of the glass plate, through which thepassengers examine the fare when first deposited in the box.

The dip O is so constructed and so hung that it has a constant tendencyto assume a horizontal position whenever depressed by the driver inorder to deposit a fare, and which he does by operating a lever attachedin any suitable or known way to the under side of the front end of thedip. For the purpose of making the dip thus automatically adjust itselffor a new fare by assuming ahorizontal position, the rear end of thedip, on its under side, is provided with a heavy metal rib or bar, f, socurved on its outer surface as to just clear the inner edge of theshortened top plate, E, of box A. In other words, it is formed in acurve, of which a line drawn from the center of pivots c to the edge ofthe top plate, E, would form a radius, but so as to clear it easily.

Rib or barfis illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, and is provided at or nearits center with a depression, 9, into which the lip a takes, there beingleft at its upper end a small flange, 20, which, resting upon the lip awhen the dip is in its normal (horizontal) position, serves to supportthe latter, as before described.

On the back of bar fis cast or otherwise secured a stop, K, the purposeof which is to prevent the dip B from being depressed farther than isabsolutely necessary to deposit or drop the fare into the drawer Dbelow. This is effected by the lower end of the stop K being brought incontact with the under side of the shortened cover E of the box by theact of depressing the dip.

On the under side of the front half of the dip is formed or otherwisesecured a projectin g plate or rib, h, which extends from end to end ofthe dip. The lower edge of this plate is provided with a series ofteeth, 1', the office of which is to protect the opening formed betweenthe edge of the top plate, E, and the rear edge of the dip when thelatter is operated to deposit a fare, and thus prevent through thatopening the fraudulent abstraction of the fare from the money-drawer,the teeth being made of sufficient length for this purpose; or a seriesof pointed spikes may be substituted for rib hand teeth 2'. Thus 0Ollstrueted, and the dip properly placed in its bearings in box A, thelatter is ready to be inserted and secured into the outer casing of thefare-box, and for the reception of the money-drawer, the peculiarconstruction of which I will shortly describe.

13y reference to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that metal box A isprovided at or near its rear, immediately adjoining the rear edge of thedip, with a depression, m, which is intended for the reception of thelower edge of the glass plate which covers the opening through which thedriver examines the fare as deposited by the passengers. Box A is alsoprovided at front, between the inner edge of the top of the metal plate0 and the ends of the flanges b, with another depression, a, formed inthe upper edge of bar or plate U, for the reception of the lower end ofthe glass plate which covers the opening into the box through which thepassengers examine the fare. This depression forms a flange, 0, againstthe under side of which the depressed flange 12 of the front edge of thedip bears, and thus closes all communication with the money-drawer belowwhen the dip is in its normal position, and also serves, in connectionwith lip a, to prevent the rearward depression of the dip beyond ahorizontal plane.

The money-drawer is constructed in the usual way, so far as the draweritself is concerned; but in addition thereto I provide it with a slide,constructed in the following manner: F F represent the sides of themoneydrawer; G, the rear, and H the front, side, and to the latter ofwhich is secured the look I. The upper side of the lock I is beveled orinclined sufficiently to prevent a lodgment of a fare 011 the top, asshown in Fig. 1. J represents a metal slide, which extends from side toside of the drawer, and is secured to the sides F F of the latter bymeans of flanges q, formed on its ends, through which, for this purpose,and the sides of the drawer, are passed screws 8, as shown in Fig. 1. Byreference to the same figure, it will be seen that the plate J is set atan angle to the front of the drawer, so as to form a slide, down whichthe fare will glide to the bottom of the drawer when precipitated uponit by the depression of the front end of the dip, as shown in dottedlines. The rear end of the flanges q are so formed as to bear flushagainst the face of the lock when the slide is set at the anglerequired, and thus form a firm support for the slide against pressurefrom above.

The lower end of the slide J is preferably provided with a lip orflange, 1, into which are inserted and secured, in any suitable andknown way, a series of sharp-pointed spikes, u, or, if desired, andwhich I prefer, a series of sharp, pointed spikes, u, and another andcorresponding series of hooks, 'v, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Eachof hooks o is so arranged with respect to the spikes that its shank runsin a parallel line with, but under, one spike a, while the extremity ofits hook reaches beyond and under the adjoining spike, the hook beinginclined downward and backward for this purpose. The slide J preventsthe passage of the hand to the drawer below when the dip B is depressed,and in this respect is further aided by the use of the spikes a; but theprincipal use of the latter, as well as of the hooks, is to prevent theabstraction of the fare from the drawer by the fraudulent use of devicescommonly employed by the drivers.

The incline or slide J, spikes u, and hooks o are represented as beingattached to the front end of drawer D, for the reason that dip B isdepressed in that direction; but were the latter made to depress towardthe rear of the box, then incline J, spikes u, and hooks v would besecured to the rear end of the drawer and inclined downward toward thefront of the latter.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The dip B, provided with theweighted barf and serrated rib h, in combination with the shortenedcover E of box A, to prevent the abstraction of the fare through theinspection-opening on the drivers side of the box when the dip isdepressed, as in depositing a fare, substantially as set forth.

2. The dip B, provided with stop K, in combination with the shortenedcover E of the box A, for the purpose set forth.

3. A dip, B, provided with stop K and serrated rib h, in combinationwith a shortened cover, E, of the box A, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a dip having a stop,

K, to prevent it from descending beyond a regulated point, with amoney-drawer having a rigid slide, J, either with or without teeth,spikes, or hooks on its lower edge, and running in an opposite directionto the inclination of the dip when depressed, whereby the abstraction offare through the inspection-opening on the passengers side of the box isprevented, substantially as set forth.

5. A money-drawer, D, of a fare-box, pro vided with a rigid slide, J,either with or without teeth, spikes, or hooks on its lower edge, andrunning in an opposite direction to the inclination of the dip whendepressed, in combination with a dip having a serrated rib, h, wherebyabstraction of the fare is prevented through either of the inspectionopenings, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a dip having a stop, K, and serrated rib h with amoney-drawer provided with a rigid slide, J, either with or withoutteeth, spikes, or hooks on its lower edge, and running in an oppositedirection to the inclination of the dip when depressed, substantially asset forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ownl'affix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

J. B. SLAW'SON.

Witnesses: i

H. M. WiinrBEoK,

DANIEL G. THOMPSON.

